Column: I'm done with looking back

Julie House Community Recorder guest columnist

Pardon the incorrect grammar, but to hear the phrase, "I'm done with that," one may think, "I'm done with that attitude, the dead-end job, the deteriorating marriage, that persistent bad mood, that messy room, the constant bickering."

But how about looking back? When will you be "done looking back?" Looking back on the childhood filled with abuse and neglect? Looking back on what could've or should've been? Or, looking back on all the good times and agonizing over "how things used to be?"

When will you be done looking back on all the things you wish you would have done, or didn't do? When will you be done looking back on all the things you wish you would have said? Or didn't say?

That's the kind of looking back I want to be "done with." The Christian pop group, Newsboys, says it best:

"I'm not looking back; I'm done with that

I wanna live with abandon

Give you all that I am

Every part of my heart, Jesus

I place in your hands

I wanna live with abandon"

It's not scripture, but it sure is sound advice. And God calls us to a life of abandon as well. Paul reminds us in Hebrews, "Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1)

How can you "lay aside every weight," and "live with abandon for Jesus?"

Will you answer God's call to reach out and finally say "yes" to adopt a child who desperately needs a loving home? Will you put down the bottle and pick up the Bible just for tonight? Will you shut out the lies of the world and open your ears and listen to the promises of your savior? Will you stop and look the homeless person in the eye instead of just driving on by? Will you close the laptop, put your child up in your lap (no matter how old they are) and ask them how their day was?

Take a step toward living in abandon today, give Jesus all that you are. Place every part of your heart into his hands, and watch him lead and guide your every step. As his word so beautifully puts it, "Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know." (Jeremiah 33:3)

By the way, my first step toward living in abandon? I scored tickets to go and see the Newsboys, at the Taft next weekend, and I have a date: with my 10-year old son.

ADVERTISEMENT

Most Popular

Most Commented

More Headlines

Most Viewed

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Column: I'm done with looking back

Pardon the incorrect grammar, but to hear the phrase, 'I'm done with that,' one may think, 'I'm done with that attitude, the dead-end job, the deteriorating marriage, that persistent bad mood, that